LIFE IN INDIA.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 28 April 1922, Page 6

LIFE IN INDIA.

A LADY MISSIONARY'S

ACCOUNTS.

The following interesting extracts ar© from letters received by a Soutn Taranaki resident from a lady missionary: The Jatra (Religious Festival). December 1921. The day of December 26 a jatr.a (a religious festival) was held at a, village -about four miles from Pandharpur. We «"eiit to see what was going on. Four of us drove out in a tonga and we had ■a most unpleasant drive over a rough Toad. The village was not a large one, and there were many tents erected for the jatra time. It had the appearance of a fair, and many people were there; ■some just to look on, some to buy and sell, and some to perform their re-

ligious ceremonies. At this jatra people take out vows and also pay vows which ■have previously been made. Those who v were taking out vows, or fulfilling' vows, r west first to bathe in a little stream j a jest near the entrance of the village, j i then their bodies were smeared over I x with, yellow, and they were dressed in [ a leaves of a certain tree which is sacred, i This office was performed by certain j"holy men," and from the stream they £ went dancing, walking, rolling, or, £ measuring their length along the ground, regardless of the hundreds of ] people and cattle about them, until they < came to -a pool of filthy water. Drop- | , ping their wreath of leaves, they entered j the water, scooped up a handful of the muddy mixture and drank it, then ~ washed their faces and bodies, and at 1 the edge of the water they donned clean - dhotas or gadis, and again formed a ' procession, accompanied by their rela- j Jives and the "holy men," who were -flancing and drumming, a. Tiideous performance and to hideous $ewn=tpm, bang, J dash, and clang of their drums, The! - ones wTiq had been bathed in that holy ■ water were now free from ilieir vows. \ or had just taken upon them a fresh : yow, and they danced in an ecstasy, sofiSe of them becoming quite exhausted and had to he supported hy theif j friends. Some measured their length, \ throwing their bodies on the giound and extending their arms ; abj\«i their heads, and with a small stick marking ©n the ground the place where their i feet must touch at the next length, j One man we saw go in this way ihiough the stream of water. It is a pitiful and dreadful sight. These "holy men1' or priests, are clad in women's clothes and decorated with numerous decorations, fceads, etc. Their hair is long, and they wear the most dilapidated garments, which bear the marks of many years' dirt and stains. They are utterly repulsive to look upon. They are the ones j who prepare the people: for their bathIng, and* who receive the offerings and the payments for the vows from the people. For these priests this jatra is a harvest time indeed. The jatra and the particular goddess which \ is worshipped (goddess Shiva), is one of immorality. Vows are taken for all manner df .reasons, ii child might have recovered from an illness and the parents will attribute its recovery to the} -<£ood favour of the goddess, or they | might even fear that some other evil j might come upon them, so they might j dedicate a member of the family to this! goddess, or they might vow to walk to j a. certain number of jatras a year, or even, tq 101 l iheir bodies over a certain number of miles. Sometimes a lifetime ! if spent in fulfilling, vows. Next jnonth another, but different big jatra will take place here in Pandharpur. It is . of the four- very lar^e iatras of the y«ar* . .., - .... •._ ._■., Native Customs. You would laugh at the funny things the people of this land do. One day all the shops and business places were closed to celebrate -the coming of the j spring onions, and all the folk sat at borne chewing onions. We had onions that day, too.

A few days ago two native women went along the road past our house Tolling their bodies on the ground as they went. They were both the wives of one husband who had died, and in this way they were making a journey to the temple at Pandharpur to prove to/ the gods and to the husband's relatives, •their innocence in the matter of his death. They had come in this manner from a village many miles away. Here is a letter of gratitude from a grateful husband to a doctor, for attention to his wife: "Dear and Fair Madam. —I have much pleasure to inform you that my dearly unfortunate wife will no longer be under your care, she having left this world for the next on the night of the 27th ult. For your .help in this matter I shall ever remain grateful.—Yours reverently, ." The^- Prince's Visit. December 12, 1921. The Prince is in India at present, and so the rioters are lying low for a while, -and we hope they will settle down to. a quiet life again. We saw the Prince the day he was in Poona. We had been -asked to go to the mission house on the xoad along which the procession was to pass, so we had a snleiidid view. The road was guarded by British soldiers, the men being placed at a distance of five yards apart on either side of- the road. Only a few English soldiers took part in the procession and these were officers.- The rest were natives, and they looked a grand sight in their gay uniforms and their dark brown skins. Our men looked very ordinary beside them. From where we stood we hall a view of the road as it turned round into tne next street, and we could see the colours of the uniforms and the glitter of the men's armour before they came close to us. First came the outriders and then a company of English horseriders. Their mounts were dark, and such, beautiful horses they were. The men wore white s coats and white helmets. • Following them came a company of natives. These were dressed in navy coats to the knee, and white breeches. Their coats were decorated with red, yellow and gold, and their turbans were also of red, yellow and gold. Each carried in his right hand a long lance which glistened in the sunlight. Next came a company of native lancers belonging- to one of the native princes. These were dressed in oldfashioned uniform. Their coats were red, with a broad band of gold xound the waist. Their topics (head gear) were small and close fitting, of gold and xed. They looked as though they might have stepped out of an old picture. The bright coloured uniforms seemed to set off their olive brown skins. Another company followed them, and these were ■dressed in navy and white like the preceding ones. Then «ame the outriders, followed by the Prince's carriage,' which was drawn by six beautiful dark liorses, three riders being on the horses on the left-hand side. Over the head of the Prince was held a large umbrella of Ted and gold. He was dressed in white -uniform and white topic (no white person can wear a" hat in this land on account of sunstroke, except at sundown),•and on his breast a large gold crest! He smiled and saluted to the peonle as .his carriage drove along. Following him were more lancers and several cars, and then the soldiers who had guarded t]>o road lined up and followed the pioivsr sion. The Prince was to lay the foundation stone at the club, and then from there he was taken to the racecourse,

; where there was a review, and he met j many old veterans and pensioners and j 1 shook hands with them all. As the pro- ' i cession passed through the town it was ! joined by a company of elephants and '• camels belonging to a native prince. ; We did not see them, for they did not ! come past the place where we stood. > 'i'hev wai-a rlprnrat.pil with their oriental ! trappings, and eacii carried a rider. We I saw the elephants and camels the evening before as they passed our house. Two days before the Prince's arrival all the shops were shut to show disi respect to the Prince, and the day he I was in Poona no tongas were available. I The drivers had been threatened not to 1 ' carry passengers, and they were afraid ' • to do so, especially to take English ' passengers.